34 MBA graduates hired to supervise public distribution system

The government has hired 34 MBA graduates, including eight women, with experience in insurance, navy, pharmacy and banks to oversee functioning of fair price shops and effective functioning of the public distribution system (PDS) in the state.

The newly-formed Rajasthan State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation would depute the recruits selected through an entrance examination in all districts of the state. They would be called district managers and monitor the system from manufacturing to distribution point.

"We have taken this step in our bid to bring professionalism in the public delivery system. The government has decided to include non-PDS items like tea, spices, soaps and fortified flours in ration shops. The managers will look after this complex job and are expected to bring efficiency in the system," said food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department principal secretary J C Mohanty.

The recruits are currently undergoing training at Jaipur's state institute of agriculture management. "The group includes freshers as well as those with some work experience. Some of them were earlier working with banks...," said course coordinator S P Paliwal.

Ruchi Agarwal, one of the recruits who worked as a pharmacist in a government hospital after her MBA, is excited about her new job. "We were recruited in January and were sent to field training for two months. It is indeed a challenging job,'' she said. Agarwal said they had been asked to monitor and market PDS shops besides an image makeover of the system perceived to be inefficient and corrupt.

The recruits are being trained to manage logistics with minimum diversion of products besides quality checking. Naresh Dhaania, another recruit who was in the navy for 15 years, said, "Transparency is the biggest thing needed.''